LETTERS AND LIES
835 Words
CHAPTER 5
Arabelle was not a morning person.
So when her maid rushed into her chamber at dawn, wide-eyed and breathless, the princess was seconds away from launching a pillow at her face.
“Your Highness—it’s urgent.”
Arabelle groaned into her bedsheets. “Unless the kingdom is on fire, I don’t care.”
“It’s… a letter. It was slipped under your door. No seal.”
That got her attention.
She sat up, tousled hair falling over one shoulder, and held out her hand. The maid hesitated, then gave her the folded parchment and quickly backed away.
Arabelle unfolded it slowly, eyes scanning the neat, sharp handwriting. It wasn’t from her father. Or her mother. Or even Darius.
The note read:
> *You are not safe. Someone in the court wants to end the alliance — at any cost.
Trust no one.
Especially not the ones smiling too easily.*
—A friend in the shadows.*
She read it twice. Then a third time.
Her heart began to thud.
At first, she assumed it was a prank. But the language, the stealth — it didn’t feel like a joke. Someone had risked sneaking into her private corridor to deliver it. That meant two things:
1. They were watching her.
2. Someone truly didn’t want the alliance to succeed.
She folded the note and tucked it beneath her pillow just as a knock sounded at her chamber door.
“Arabelle?” came a voice she now recognized instantly.
Prince Darius.
She cleared her throat. “If you’re here to spar again, I’ll need breakfast and at least one insult before I’m functional.”
“I came to walk with you,” he said, pushing the door open slightly. “There’s a sunrise. It’s pretending to be beautiful.”
She hesitated.
There it was again — the old part of her that wanted to push him away before anyone got too close. Before she did.
But the memory of last night lingered like the scent of the roses in the maze.
She grabbed a cloak and followed him.
---
The gardens were quieter than usual. The guards stood further out, giving them space. A luxury Arabelle knew wouldn’t last long.
“You look like you didn’t sleep,” Darius said after a minute.
“Maybe I didn’t,” she replied.
“Too many royal expectations keeping you up?”
“Something like that.”
He studied her. “You’re hiding something.”
She stopped, eyes flicking toward him. “Do you always interrogate people you’re courting under duress?”
“I’m not interrogating you,” he said softly. “I’m worried.”
That caught her off guard.
She turned away, trying to focus on the mist curling over the hedges and not the warmth creeping up her neck. “Don’t be. I’ve been dealing with snakes in the palace since I was twelve.”
“Yes,” he said, stepping closer, “but some snakes bite harder than others.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you know?”
He hesitated — just long enough to make her gut twist.
“Westmoor’s spies reported rising unrest before I came. Some factions in both kingdoms don’t want peace. They’d rather keep the power imbalance… or tip it in their favor. Quietly. Permanently.”
She crossed her arms. “And now you tell me this?”
“I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.”
“You flirted with me in a hedge maze.”
“I didn’t say I was smart.” He smiled grimly.
Then, before she could argue again, he reached into his coat and handed her something — a crest, carved in black obsidian.
“The same symbol was seen on a messenger caught spying outside your father’s war room last month. My men intercepted him. He bit a poison capsule before we could question him.”
Arabelle studied it — the crest was unfamiliar. A black wolf curled around a flame.
“I’ve never seen this before,” she whispered.
“Someone in your court has. I guarantee it.”
They stood in silence.
And for once, the flirtation between them faded into something far more dangerous.
Real alliance. Real danger. Real stakes.
“I received a warning letter this morning,” she finally said, voice low. “No signature. No seal. Just a message telling me I’m not safe.”
Darius’s eyes sharpened. “Then we need to be careful. And we need to find out who’s playing this game.”
Arabelle met his gaze. “Together?”
He nodded. “Together.”
---
Later that day, as the sun climbed high and court proceedings resumed, Arabelle sat beside her mother in the throne room, smile fixed, words measured.
But inside?
She was watching everyone.
Because someone — somewhere — wanted her silenced.
And if they thought she’d be an easy target, they were about to find out exactly how dangerous a sassy princess could be.
To be continued....
- Writer
